Sherdog Prospect Watch: Losene Keita

Losene Keita has broken his leg twice over the past year, but that has not stopped the 26-year-old Belgian phenom from stepping over the competition. The “Black Panther” and reigning Oktagon MMA featherweight titleholder will look to strike gold in a second division when he faces 155-pound champion Ronald Paradeiser in the €1 million Tipsport Gamechanger lightweight tournament final atop Oktagon 65 this Sunday at the O2 Arena in Prague.

Keita enters the showdown looking to snatch the No. 1 pound-for-pound spot in Oktagon’s rankings from Paradeiser, who comes in on an eight-fight winning streak. That could not matter less to Keita, considering he was the last man to defeat “Rony” when they fought nearly three years ago. Keita was only 23 when he upset Paradeiser in his eighth professional fight and feels the rematch will play out in even more straightforward fashion.

“Paradeiser couldn’t even beat me at my worst,” Keita told Sherdog.com. “At the time, I didn’t have that much experience. It was my first time fighting a southpaw, and I was only 74 [kilograms] in the cage and he was around 85 or something, and I still beat him. I’m bigger, I’m stronger and I have 100% confidence.”

Keita seems well within his rights to be confident. In 16 professional bouts, the Lamiro Fight Club product has only had one setback—if you could call it that. Keita was off to a strong opening round against Georgia’s Mate Sanikidze before his leg broke in a freak accident. Keita immediately knew something was wrong after his leg buckled, and he stopped the fight on his own accord. It was frustrating to take his lone loss in a way he could not control, but every step of Keita’s recovery and return to the cage was by his design.

“Sometimes it bothers me because I’ve seen [Sanikidize’s] performance since then, and I’m like, ‘Wow, this is the guy who has a win over me?’” Keita said. “So yeah, that sometimes hurts my pride, but I no longer care about the one loss. As long as nobody beats me or dominates me in the cage, I’ll be good.”

Despite breaking his leg in late July 2023, Keita’s pride led him to return by December of the same year. He bounced back with a second-round knockout for a strong close to his campaign. So far, he has built on the momentum in 2024, going 3-0 with one stoppage. Keita believes his youth is too valuable to waste and wants to remain as active as possible—even if it is not in his best interest. After rushing back to the cage following his injury, Keita reinjured the same leg.

“I was not very disciplined with my rehab because I was already back in the gym and training upper body,” he said. “I took that fight in December, but after the fight, I broke the same leg again.”

Although Keita suffered two leg breaks in a short period of time, he clarified that he was fully confident in his body and that the prior injuries did not affect his mentality in the cage.

“If I’m in the cage and I’m thinking too much about my legs, my opponent is going to beat my ass,” Keita said. “If you agree to a fight, you need to trust everything you have, because if you don’t, anything can go wrong.”

Keita’s explosive hands and charismatic mic skills have made him one of the most intriguing young competitors outside the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Professional Fighters League. He turned down multiple offers from the promotional giants because he saw value in building his name in a growing organization like Oktagon MMA. He has not ruled out possible moves in the future, but for now, Keita wants to become the face of one of Europe’s best MMA scenes.